..To promote the use of quality indicators, an exploration of the barriers to and facilitating factors for their implementation among healthcare professionals and managers of intensive care units (ICUs) is advocated...

..Heparins used to prevent circuit clotting may cause bleeding. Regional anticoagulation with citrate reduces bleeding, but has metabolic risks. The aim was to compare the safety and efficacy of the two...

..The aim of this study was to investigate whether in-hospital mortality was associated with the administered fraction of oxygen in inspired air (FiO2) and achieved arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)...

Detection of citrate overdose in critically ill patients on citrate-anticoagulated venovenous haemofiltration: use of ionised and total/ionised calcium

..The objective of this study was to elucidate the most practical and effective laboratory measurement for monitoring citrate in critically ill patients undergoing citrate-anticoagulated continuous venovenous haemofiltration (CVVH)...

The influence of volume and intensive care unit organization on hospital mortality in patients admitted with severe sepsis: a retrospective multicentre cohort study

..The aim of the study was to assess the influence of annual volume and factors related to intensive care unit (ICU) organization on in-hospital mortality among patients admitted to the ICU with severe sepsis...

Telemedicine in a Dutch intensive care unit: A descriptive study of the first results

..To study whether lactulose or polyethylene glycol is effective to promote defecation in critically ill patients, whether either of the two is superior, and whether the use of enteral laxatives is related to clinical outcome...

Metrics of Arterial Hyperoxia and Associated Outcomes in Critical Care

..Our purpose was to evaluate previously used and newly constructed metrics of arterial hyperoxia and systematically assess their association with clinical outcomes in different subgroups in the ICU...

Testing a conceptual model on early opening of the microcirculation in severe sepsis and septic shock: a randomised controlled pilot study

..In addition, we determined how family members experience their role as acting representative for giving informed consent, and in turn whether patients feel their representatives would do well representing them...

Influence of severity of illness, medication and selective decontamination on defecation

..Prolongation of the corrected QT interval (QTc) can lead to torsades de pointes. This study is designed to determine the validity of the continuous QTc (cQTc) measurement in critically ill patients...

..The tele-ICU was set up on 3 December 2010. Although the tele-ICU performed sufficiently, several aspects, such as cost analysis, need clarification before the system can be widely implemented in the Netherlands...

International study on microcirculatory shock occurrence in acutely ill patients

..This study was conducted to develop a set of indicators that measure the quality of care in intensive care units (ICU) in Dutch hospitals and to evaluate the feasibility of the registration of these indicators...